Andrie helped lead account management teams at agencies like TBWA\Chiat\Day, Wieden + Kennedy, and Media Arts Lab and worked on clients like Airbnb, KFC, and Apple before going client-side at AT&T Entertainment Group. Hear about how to overcome common hurdles young account mangers face, what interns can do to up the probability of getting hired, and how the heck to "manage up".

Topics Discussed

Finding advertising in 7th grade, chasing it to roles at agencies in Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles, and how he chose account management over creative.

Overcoming early hurdles like taking on too much and raising his hand for help.

The biggest challenges of working on huge national campaigns for big clients like re-introducing Colonel Sanders for KFC and Shot on iPhone for Apple.

His decision to go client-side, how his agency experience influences how he handles his new role at AT&T Entertainment Group, and realizing how hard the account role on the agency-side is.

What account management interns can do this summer to up the probability of getting hired.

The necessity of a passion for advertising, and the reality of working on smaller, unknown brands.

What jr. talent should keep in mind when building relationships with their managers, and how to manage up by keeping everyone informed of what's going on.

Mic Drops

“Garbage in, garbage out. If you don’t have the time to think through a project, and if you’re not giving the agency time to think through the project, you can’t sit and expect to win a Lion or an Effie because you gave them three weeks. It’s definitely a balance.”

“This world is filled with toilet paper, water, potato chips, and so it’s not always going to be the cool, flashy stuff. And that’s where that passion comes into play. If I’m working on a banner ad and that’s all you work on, things are going to suck if you don’t have passion for the industry as a whole.”

“Everyone hates a micromanager, and the best way to combat that is to manage up, and just constantly feed a stream—not inundating them with information—but giving them a taste of like, ‘Hey don’t worry, these things are happening and these things are moving.’ And from then on you have that out there and they are aware. […] Once you manage up, you’re helping your manager understand what’s going on, and they can elevate themselves, which in turn helps you elevate yourself. Because you’re giving them this information, and they’re not constantly having to dip down and say, ‘Oh wait, what’s going on with this? Where is this project at?’"

After over a decade of living and breathing agency life, Andrie became a client in 2017 and joined AT&T Entertainment Group in LA.

Prior to the switch, he got his first taste of the agency world in his hometown of Seattle working at Publicis on T-Mobile. After toying with the idea of becoming a copywriter, he quickly changed his mind and found a home in Account Management.

From there he chased the sunshine and joined TBWA\Media Arts Lab to work on Apple. After launching a series of iPhones and the "Shot on iPhone" campaign, he followed his love of fried chicken and Colonel Sanders to Wieden + Kennedy, and brought back the American icon. After getting his fill of extra crispy chicken, he ventured back south to TBWA\Chiat Day LA to work on Airbnb.

Outside of the office, he's an avid sneaker head, with an undying love for KBBQ and music of all types from the Doobie Brothers to A Tribe Called Quest.

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